


The Moon and the Markswoman

by humanoid_life_form



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: 50 Sentences, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Betrothal Necklace (Avatar), But we're rolling with it, F/F, Femslash, International Fanworks Day 2021, Lesbian Mai (Avatar), Lesbian Yue (Avatar), Marriage Proposal, Minor Aang/Katara, Past Mai/Zuko (Avatar), Past Sokka/Yue (Avatar), Rare Pairings, Same-Sex Marriage, Secret Marriage, Yue (Avatar) Lives, except it's not really that secret if they're both wearing necklaces
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:42:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29466690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/humanoid_life_form/pseuds/humanoid_life_form
Summary: 50 sentences to chronicle the love story of Mai and Yue.
Relationships: Mai/Yue (Avatar)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	The Moon and the Markswoman

**storm**

The first time she saw Yue, a storm of emotion and sensation flooded through her—The Chief was so beautiful.

**sister**

"He had a sister," she said one night, smiling a little, "and the worst thing was that I really just used him to try and get to her—but she loved that airbender—only him—and I couldn't blame her at all."

**deviation**

No one expected the wife of the Fire Lord to leave for the Northern Water Tribe—for the woman who ruled it.

**movement**

Though Mai's expression was always blank, Yue could sense the movement of her thoughts—always fast and sharp, like her knives.

**supply**

They never ran short of stories for each other—gossip from the Fire Nation courts, tales of hunting expeditions in the ice and snow.

**thought**

The first thought Chief Yue had when she first watched Mai throw a knife was— _She could kill me faster than I could blink—_ The second thought was— _and I would let her._

**drop**

One by one, hairpieces dropped to the floor—Yue's hair fell in moonlit waves down her back—Mai wanted to comb her fingers through it and wrap herself in it forever.

**coat**

For Mai's birthday, Yue gave her a coat—It was much like her own, except it was deep red with brown furs, and Mai wondered where on Earth she could have found such a beautiful red dye.

**lift**

Yue yelped when Mai slid her arms beneath her thighs and hoisted her up, pressing her hard into the ice wall and kissing her like she'd never kissed her before.

**resist**

People couldn't resist staring whenever Chief Yue glided by with her strange and beautiful Fire Nation consort—No one in the North had ever seen a woman so pale, so stoic—and for someone from the land of blinding sun and scorching fire, she was so very cold.

**year**

It was an entire year before the North Pole received even a single visitor from the Fire Nation—It wasn't Fire Lord Zuko—It was Ty Lee—She wanted to read the Chief's aura and give them both blessings of love and longevity.

**patrol**

Waterbender guards patrolled outside the Chief's palace at all hours of the day and night—Mai liked ordering them around for pointless things just to watch them scramble, and Yue's gentle admonishments always ended in smiles and kisses.

**retire**

The guardswomen shared knowing smirks when Mai and Yue retired far earlier than was considered proper—Their food sat neglected on the table as they preferred to touch each other.

**twist**

Something in Yue's heart twisted when Mai told her about her life in the Fire Nation—the harsh restrictions, the stifling rules, the unspoken codes were things the Chief understood all too well. 

**battle**

They both agreed that Admiral Zhao had been a bit excessive when he had lain siege to the North Pole—Mai laughed bitterly, recalling how pompous that insufferable hog monkey had been because look where he was now—He was nowhere.

**title**

Mai gave up her Fire Nation noble rank without a second thought, soothing Yue's ensuing panic with promises that this northern land of ice felt more like her home than the Fire Nation ever had.

**motif**

There were patterns of ocean waves sewn into every article of clothing the palace tailors made for her, but whenever she asked Yue about it, she only smiled enigmatically.

**spirit**

Mai didn't have a belief one way or the other about the Spirit World—not even after Yue explained why her hair was white—and Yue didn't mind.

**room**

Chief Yue's smile could light up a whole room—Mai's heart always tripped.

**monk**

Avatar Aang was a traveling monk, visiting every corner of every nation—and he was the only one who wasn't surprised at all by Mai's and Yue's relationship.

**subject**

It was Yue who had first broached the subject of heirs—"There's talk in the council," she'd said—and Mai had asked her why tradition still mattered at this point.

**reaction**

There was a glimmer of recognition in the Fire Lord's eyes as Chief Yue entered the throne room, and Mai instinctively drew closer to her—but then he stood and bowed deeply to them both, his smile melting away Mai's anxiety.

**worry**

Yue still wasn't sure that the people of the Fire Nation would take too kindly to an alliance with the Water Tribe.

**fingers**

"I never liked them, either, but they're in fashion this season," Mai said drolly as Yue stared down at the glittering silver finger nail guards—They reminded her of badger mole claws, and she decided she liked that.

**retain**

Yue kept her hair up in its traditional style, refusing to exchange her ocean-blue hairpieces for red ones.

**loyalty**

"What was that about loving Zuzu?" Azula cackled shrilly—"And now you've run off to bed some filthy savage—but I suppose you still can't _fear_ me from the other side of this lovely birdcage, can you?"

**mark**

"There—" Ty Lee pointed at a spot just above Mai's head—"There's more white in your crown chakra, and then there's a lot of pink around it—more than I've ever seen before!"

**addicted**

Even in her own homeland, Mai felt most at home by Chief Yue's side—and Yue enjoyed the company.

**safe**

They found safety in each other—Yue in the stillness of Mai's presence, Mai in the calm silver glow of Yue's love.

**brink**

It was Yue, of all people, who had convinced Mai to stay in the Fire Nation for one more week—there were treaties to discuss and documents to sign—but Mai couldn't _stand_ her father and the way he looked at them both.

**accumulation**

Yue slowly filled a golden ornamental box with various pieces of Fire Nation jewelry—rings, hairpieces, gemstones, necklaces, imported nailguards—to bring home as souvenirs from the land of the Sun.

**thread**

Yue stepped out into the moonlight, looking down at the golden embroidery she had just finished—The deep blue of her new summer dress looked black in the pale light, and the golden threads appeared almost silver, and she smiled.

**research**

Mai discovered during one of her many visits to the royal library that even the academics still viewed the Water Tribe people as "savages."

**hierarchy**

"Let's just leave tonight," Mai whispered to Yue into the silence of their guest house—"I've had enough of this place, and it's not like my reputation could fall any lower—" and Yue laughed and kissed her and told her she'd already gathered all their things.

**stun**

Even in peasant's clothing, Yue was still so beautiful that Mai's breath caught in her chest.

**silk**

They had set up a rudimentary camp for the night because it would be several days of walking before they made it to Ba Sing Se—Yue had kept a swath of scarlet fabric from a Fire Nation royal tailor, and she fashioned it into a necklace—She found a smooth stone along a stream, carved a crescent moon into it with one of Mai's knives, and then presented it to her—Mai took one look at the necklace and just gaped at her like her mind had frozen, and Yue laughed and moved in to kiss her.

**vision**

"I don't believe in visions," Mai said quietly as they walked alongside the creek, "...but I guess I believe in you... so there's that."

**tell**

"You've been touched by the Spirits just as much as I have," Yue told Mai one night—"I can see it in everything you do—in all the quiet ways you give kindness."

**residence**

Their inn in Ba Sing Se was right across the street from an all-female poetry society, and Yue loved listening to all the songs and verses that floated out its windows.

**weight**

Mai wondered how in Agni's name Yue could move at all with all the layers and layers of ornate robes beneath her pale green hanfu—"Isn't it so beautiful?" Yue said with a glowing smile.

**healthy**

"Your hair is magnificent," said the spa stylist as she combed through Yue's damp hair—"So strong and healthy, and such a beautiful white—I've never seen anything like it."

**related**

The Spirit World connected every living being—That's how Yue could be certain that her love for Mai would transcend their short lifetimes and maybe expand all through the world—Tui could will it to be so.

**dragon**

Mai sometimes dreamt of a white dragon who lived in the water and swam silently and gracefully—It would swim circles around her, asking silent questions she didn't know how to answer.

**experience**

There was something different about Mai, Yue noticed when they'd returned to the North Pole—She was smiling a little more, and Yue sensed that something had happened—Something had shifted, like the moon drifting into a new phase.

**meaning**

To anyone else, this necklace would probably just be some odd scrap of nothing because it was nowhere near as beautiful as the one Yue had given her—but it was a scrap that meant love and eternity—"We match now," Mai said as she tied it at the Chief's throat, and Yue smiled.

**guideline**

They were certainly breaking every single tradition of both their nations when they snuck out in the dead of night and promised beautiful and impossible things to each other in the Spirit Oasis—bound together with no living witnesses except the Moon herself.

**light**

The light of the midnight sun always kept Mai awake during the summer, even after she'd covered the windows with thick pelts—but Yue was content to stay up with her and sing her songs until she finally laid her head in her lap and smiled into sleep.

**bother**

The deep score marks in the palace walls seemed to irritate everyone but the Chief herself—"There's beauty in imperfection," she reminded her guardswomen, "especially when it's created by such a perfect aim."

**pride**

Mai taught Master Pakku's students how to throw icicles with a skill beyond that of bending, and when the old man begrudgingly began admitting non-benders into his lessons, Mai took every effort to ensure that those young men and women would one day become the fearsome pride of the North.

**define**

Neither woman would let the rules and restrictions of her past define her future—The Moon and the Markswoman would create a future of their own.


End file.
